


thank god youre not a criminal

by grapefruitgalaxy



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Barista Lance (Voltron), Celebrity Keith (Voltron), Hunk is also mentioned, M/M, Shiro is mentioned
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-04
Updated: 2019-01-04
Packaged: 2019-10-04 06:28:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,063
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17299499
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/grapefruitgalaxy/pseuds/grapefruitgalaxy
Summary: "I need somewhere to hide.""May I ask why?"---or a soulmate au in which the first words your soulmate says to you are written on your arm.or Lance is a barista and Keith needs his help





	thank god youre not a criminal

**Author's Note:**

> i had this sitting in my drafts for a while, so i finished it up this morning so i could post it  
> it's rated teen for some swears
> 
> hope you all enjoy!! <333

The words on Lance’s forearm have always been a puzzle. Less in the sense that they don’t form a coherent sentence and more in the sense of _why do they need a place to hide,_ and _from what?_

_“i need somewhere to hide”_

Words written in his soulmate’s messy scrawl with no discernible tone and no punctuation, just like all soulmarks are.

Lance had daydreamed all sorts of scenarios of how meeting his soulmate would go down.

Maybe they’d be on the run from the police, running into Lance and desperately asking from Lance’s help before they go together to solve the mystery behind the crime that they didn’t commit. Or maybe they’d be running from some thugs or something, stumbling into Lance and saying their part before asking Lance to call the police.

Lance’s personal favorite is one that doesn’t involve imminent danger.

His soulmate would waltz up to the counter of the coffee shop he worked in. It’d be either early in the morning as the sun just starts to rise or late in the afternoon as it begins to go down. Either way, the coffee shop would be bathed in a soft and romantic orange light. They’d be confident, hopefully starting some sort of cheesy pickup line. _“I need somewhere to hide.”_ Lance would maybe respond with something playful, but probably something flustered or confused because Lance knows himself well enough to know he’s not nearly as smooth as he lets on to be. And then they’d finish their line with a sultry purr, possibly wink as they lean on the counter, _“maybe back at your place?”_ Lance would be sufficiently charmed and wooed and they’d go on a kickass first date and fall madly in love and spend the rest of their lives together.

Too bad Lance’s hopelessly romantic scenario was never meant to be because life apparently hates him and his happiness.

Instead, Lance is working the extra late shift by himself because his shitty coworker decided not to show up.

He’s alone and bored standing behind the counter of Midnight Brews Cafe, missing out on what is probably the biggest party of holiday break. Hunk is texting him updates and all they do are make him even more bored and restless.

The sound of the door being nearly ripped off its hinges at about 1:07 snaps Lance away from his phone and draws his attention the the man now running towards the counter. He’s got an incredibly baggy hoodie with the hood up, a bandanna he’s holding clumsily up to hide his lower face, black hair that hangs over his eyes, and sunglasses. All very suspicious things to have at one in the morning when there is no sun to be found.

The stranger rips the sunglasses off, but keeps the bandanna on his face, letting go when he realizes it won’t budge. His voice is eerily familiar, but Lance can’t place it with the bandanna muffling his words.

“I need somewhere to hide.”

It’s less a pleading request and more of an expectant demand.

His soulmark starts to burn. He doesn’t notice.

“May I ask why?” Lance croaks, hoping he sounds much more nonchalant than he feels.

The man groans, pinching the bridge of his nose in frustration. “Look, I don’t have a lot of time! I really need a place to hide!”

Lance starts feeling a bit indignant on his own behalf, but he knows better than to snap at the potentially dangerous man standing on the other side of the counter. “From the police?” He asks instead, which is a reasonable question for someone in his position.

The man looks incredulous. “The police? Of course I’m not—”

There’s a drunken laugh and much too loud voices from outside that makes the man snap his mouth shut and whip around to the windows. “ _Fuck,_ ” he mutters under his breath before he braces his arms on the counter and looks Lance in the eyes. “I will pay you so much money to forgive me for this and not give me away,” he says before throwing himself over the counter and down onto the floor at Lance’s feet. Lance lets out a scream before stranger angrily looks up at him with a finger over where his mouth should be.

It’s then that the group of drunken college students barge into the cafe. “Is he here?” One of them shouts at Lance as soon as she enters.

Lance glances momentarily at the man as his feet, who seems to be begging him with his eyes, and then back up to the group of people. Most of them have scattered and are now looking everywhere in the cafe, under tables and chairs and even peeking into both bathrooms. Lance nudges his foot into the man, silently urging him to press closer to the counter. “Is who here?”

The girl who had shouted the question looks at him incredulously. “What do you mean who’s here?! We just saw Keith Kogane run into here!”

Lance’s eyes widen. They _what?_ The man beneath him tenses and sucks in a breath and, _holy shit,_ Lance thinks, _Keith Kogane is hiding behind my counter._

Lance is immediately impressed by his own acting skills when he manages to be nonchalant _when Keith Kogane is literally right at his feet what the fuck._

“No one's been in here tonight. Except you guys, I guess,” Lance says with a shrug. “He might have ducked into the place next to here. The little grocery store?”

The drunk girl nods like he changed her life, and slurs an “oh my god you’re so right” before she rounds up all her friends and they leave. One of them shouts a drunken apology for moving all the chairs.

He feels Keith relax and let out the breath he’d been holding. Lance hastily steps back when he shifts and starts to stand, momentarily peering over the counter before rising to his full height. Pulling down his bandana he looks at Lance uneasily, probably expecting a massive blowup that most fans would give when meeting a celebrity.

Because he’s Keith fucking Kogane, famous singer/songwriter who made his debut into acting almost two years ago.

“Like I said earlier, I’ll uh, pay you for your troubles,” Keith says awkwardly. “I could even give you an autograph or something I guess, but—”

“What?” Lance interrupts, before finally catching up to what’s being said. “Oh! You don’t need to!”

Keith stops in his tracks, glancing at Lance in surprise. “It wouldn’t be difficult, I can easily afford to give you something for bothering you like this.”

Lance starts to scratch at his soulmark, because for some reason it feels itchy and he’s still all jittery and needs something to do with his hands. “No, I really don’t—” and that’s when it hits him.

“ _i need somewhere to hide_ ”

Oh my god.

His soulmark pulses like _ding ding!_ probably telling Lance _you got it you absolute dumbass!_ and Lance feels like he’s gonna faint.

The sudden pause in Lance’s sentence has obviously thrown Keith off. Lance has no doubt that he’s making a really strange face while he has his mini epiphany and subsequent breakdown. Lance think he would pay to see his own face journey in that moment. Shuffling awkwardly, Keith moves a bit closer, brows furrowing uncomfortably. “Are you okay…?”

Snapping out of it, Lance shakes his head and stands up straighter. “Yes! Yep, I’m all good, I just realized there _is_ something you can do for me.”

Keith just looks even more worried and his stance closes off warily. “And what exactly is it?”

Suddenly feeling sheepish, and already losing his short burst of confidence, Lance gives him a weak smile. “Could I, uh, see your soulmark? Please?”

Whatever Keith was expecting, it probably wasn’t that. His face goes from wariness to confusion as the words process. And then, he’s suddenly wincing and grabbing his forearm, probably because of the burn that Lance also felt.

Keith glances at Lance with dawning realization and breathes more than says, “yeah, uh, sure.”

He pulls up his sleeve and Lance is greeted with his first words to Keith, written in his clear handwriting. _“may i ask why”_

Lance shows Keith his own arm, because he’s a gentleman and it’s what you do when you meet your soulmate. And holy shit. Keith Kogane is is _soulmate._

After a long silence in which they both just stared at each other and their marks, Lance feels a smile stretch over his face. Not long after, he feels a relieved laughter bubbling up in his chest.

His soulmate isn’t a criminal. He isn’t running from the police. He’s not hiding from thugs.

He’s a fucking celebrity hiding from fans.

Keith is hesitantly smiling too, and he probably thinks Lance is fucking nuts. There’s a question somewhere in his tentative smile. Lance answers it between giggles. “I thought you were gonna be a fucking criminal.”

And that sets Keith off after he glances back down at Lance’s arm to remind himself of his first words. They’re alone in a cafe at one in the morning, laughing hard as tears fill their eyes and their stomachs are sore.

They finally settle down with a couple of breathy chuckles and snorts, and lock eyes.

“So,” Keith starts, “I’m Keith.”

Lance huffs in amusement. “Yeah. I know.”

Keith’s smile is blinding, his hood had fallen off at some point while they were laughing, and there’s no longer a shadow cast over his face. “And you are…?”

“Oh!” Lance straightens his back. “I’m Lance.”

Keith smile somehow gets even brighter. “Lance,” he says, testing it out. Lance flushes and nods.

“What time is your shift over?” Keith asks.

It’s with some hesitance that Lance looks away from Keith to check the time. There’s a mass amount of messages from Hunk on his lock screen, and he reminds himself to text him back at some point. “At two. Half an hour, and then I have to clean up for the night.”

Lance glances up and notices the bags under Keith’s eyes.

“But—” Lance blurts, “—I’m sure my boss would understand if I closed thirty minutes early?”

Keith’s smile turns soft. “I can wait.”

“I don’t know if _I_ can, honestly,” Lance replies sheepishly.

Now that Lance really listens, Keith’s laugh sounds melodious. “Then get to it, _soulmate._ ”

Lance has never closed the cafe so fast in his two years of working there.

By two, they’re strolling down the street together, shoulders brushing with every step. They laugh and talk about themselves, getting to know each other. At some point, Lance asks for pictures because there’s no fucking way that his friends and family would believe him without them. Keith agrees and when they stop under a streetlight to take some, Keith boldly leans in and presses a kiss to Lance’s cheek as the camera flashes.

Lance’s blush is bright red in the rest of their pictures, all of them showcasing two ridiculously happy boys.

The last one they take is of their forearms, right next to each other, showcasing their first words.

By the time they reach Lance’s apartment, they’ve exchanged numbers. Lance stays with him as he calls his brother and tells him where to pick him up. When a car rolls up, Keith shoves him towards the door to his building, saying Shiro might kill him with questions. Lance laughs and presses a chaste kiss to his cheek, delighting in how red Keith’s face becomes.

By the time Lance makes it up to his apartment alone, there’s already an instagram notification that _keith.kogane_ has tagged him ( _him!)_ in a post _._

His post has two pictures, neither of them have any filters. The first one makes Lance’s face hot, it’s the one where Keith kissed his cheek. Keith looks almost smug, and Lance can’t believe he’s able to smile that wide.

The second is of their soulmarks.

The caption just reads “Wow.”

All Lance can do is smile when he wakes up to various messages from friends and family members, all sending him the post with questions and exclamation marks.

What makes him the happiest is one from Keith.

 

**_Soulmate!!! <33_ **

_Do you think my post is proof enough for them?_

 

Lance’s heart swells.

He’s really fucking glad his soulmate wasn’t a criminal.

 


End file.
